"If exercise is supposed to be so good for you, how come it hurts so much?" It's a common question but the truth is that anyone who has bad memories associated with getting physically active was probably being asked to approach it in the wrong way.

Suddenly going from being completely sedentary to rushing out for a four mile jog or being forced to do a school sport that you loathed would be enough to put anyone off. Yet if you find a form of activity that suits your body and take it at the right pace, far from hurting, working up a sweat stimulates the release of chemicals in the body that make you feel good. But before you head for the treadmill or don your trainers for a run round the park, read on, because the benefits of regular exercise don't end there.

According to Dr. Miriam Nelson of Tufts University in America, she and other researchers have scientifically proven that exercise can in effect literally turn back time. Forget creams, lotions and potions, Nelson has demonstrated that just two sessions a week, concentrating on strengthening muscles, is the most effective anti-ageing agent around.

Strength training stimulates muscle fibres by doing slow and controlled movements. This may sound daunting but in fact it involves simple routines you can do at home such as working the back, stomach and buttock muscles by standing up and sitting down on a chair twenty-four times in three sets of eight moves. Or you can work the muscles at the back of the legs by raising yourself as high as possible on the balls of your feet, holding the position then bringing them down to a flat position sixteen times.

The benefits of these kinds of muscle strengthening exercises, all of which have been scientifically evaluated are wide ranging. One of the main things to emerge from research is that what was once thought to be the inevitable loss of muscle and accumulation of fat as we grow older can be halted.

Muscle building burns calories and the more you hang on to strengthening regimes, the more calories your body continues to burn. Keeping trim and toned throughout life need no longer be just a possibility but it can become a reality.

Regular strengthening exercises also benefits the bones, halting and even restoring bone loss as the years go by. For women particularly, this makes them less prone to osteoporosis, and thus fractures around and after the time of menopause.

Improving muscle strength also helps to retain good balance and improves flexibility, which is needed to continue to stretch and reach and turn and bend without aches and strains.

Finally, working various muscle groups through out the body invigorates and energises. With more energy, improved balance and greater flexibility, the easier it is and the more enjoyment you are likely to get from the aerobic exercise you used to hate.

Whether it is fast walking, gardening, dancing, roller blading or even running, all will be more achievable if your muscles are strong. And more aerobic activity means not only will your heart be in better shape but your figure will too and there is nothing like looking good to make you feel good!

References

• Miriam E. Nelson et al. Effects of high-intensity strength training onmultiple risk factors for osteoporotic fractures, JAMA, Dec 29, 1994, vol 272, no. 24
• The effects of progressive resistence training on bone density : a review,Medicine and Science in Sports and Exercise, Feb 1998, 25 - 30

FOOD TODAY 05/2001